Pence hair color change - only time will reveal the true cause

AROUND THE BLOCK

News with a Twist

Pence hair color controversy erupts

Experts clash: dermatological or psychosomatic?

A recent Around the Block – News with a Twist reported that Republican vice-presidential candidate Mike Pence’s hair is getting darker due to stress related ‘melanocyte hyper switch-on syndrome,’ as diagnosed by renowned dermatologist and melanocyte expert Dr. Cosmos Topper.

In Dr. Topper’s opinion, Governor Pence is suffering from the syndrome because of his need to explain and defend GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump’s most outrageous statements and tweets. (Here is a link to that post: http://tedblocksblog.blogspot.com/2016/08/stress-of-running-with-trump-causing.html)

A number of Around the Block readers have written asking, since the picture of Mr. Trump and Mr. Pence accompanying the post seemed to show Mr. Pence’s hair color approaching the same shade as Mr. Trump’s (reproduced above), is it possible that Pence might be suffering from a syndrome other than melanocyte hyper switch-on?

In order to clear up any confusion, Around the Block contacted legendary psychiatrist and hair colorist Dr. Fritz Frelinghuysen. Dr. Frelinghuysen, who specializes in psychosomatic illnesses affecting hair color, said that while Dr. Topper’s diagnosis might be correct, there is also a distinct possibility that Mr. Pence might also be suffering from ‘narcissistic personality proximity disorder.’

“Narcissistic personality proximity disorder occurs when an ostensibly healthy individual spends an inordinate amount of time in close proximity to a narcissistic personality and begins taking on some physical characteristics of that narcissistic personality,” Dr. Frelinghuysen explained.  “In many cases the effect of the proximity is revealed in a mimicking of hair color.”

For his part, Dr. Topper, the dermatologist and melanocyte expert, called Dr. Frelinghuysen’s diagnosis “voodoo science” and suggested that given the stress Mr. Pence is confronting, his hair will continue to darken and will be “blacker than Ronald Reagan's by election day”.

Asked to comment on the controversy, Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, attempting to put a positive spin on the issue said, "Look, I have no idea why Governor Pence's hair is darkening, but if it ends up like Ronald Reagan's, it will be a good thing."